Page 30 of How to Seduce a Duke this Autumn
But even as she said it, a tiny spark of curiosity flared. And against her better judgment, she found herself wondering what would happen if she did accept.
No.
Charlene. No!
She was most certainly not meeting him.
*
Adam Cross satin his study, the soft crackle of the fire in the hearth doing little to thaw the chill that had settled in his bones. A ledger lay open before him, columns of figures neatly inked in black, but he wasn’t seeing them. His pen hovered over the page, motionless.
He was dreaming, right?
Adam hadn’t sent a note to Charlene asking to meet him at dawn, alone, in a damn park, to practice her dance? Jack’s mocking laughter filled his head. Yes, he would laugh exactly like that if he knew what Adam had done. That little wordpatiencecame back to haunt him tenfold.
He leaned back into his chair with a groan. He had sent the letter that morning, and now his whole body was restless with regret.
Should he not have done it?
Should he have waited for the next event to ask her to dance? Perhaps. Perhaps he should have done anything but send that damn invitation. But he hadn’t been thinking.
Charlene might laugh in his face or, worse, ignore him altogether.
The latter was almost assured.
She was more guarded now. Her defenses might as well be as high as the sky. Fortunately, Adam enjoyed reaching for it. Unfortunately, his lack of patience might just push her even higher. Beyond his reach.
No, he shouldn’t think like that.
She might be guarded, but she still possessed the same fire.
And that fire was one of the reasons why he couldn’t walk away. He wanted it to blaze hotter than the sun.
But would she come to the park? He had no idea. If she did, she might be accompanied by her brother. Or a pistol. But doing nothing felt worse than taking the risk. He would send her an invitation to the park forever if there were a single, minuscule chance that she would accept.
The door to the study cracked open, and Adam’s mother glided in. Ah, he would recognize that purposeful walk anywhere.
“You’ve been hiding in here all morning,” she said, taking the chair opposite him, her eyes studying him like a hawk just about to lunge for its prey. “Have you read the M-Press?”
Adam sighed. “Good morning to you, too, Mother. No, I haven’t.”I would never.
After a pause of her scrutinizing stare, she broke the silence. “You looked troubled,” she commented. “Did you find the ball that taxing?”
“On the contrary,” Adam said. “It was tolerable enough.”
“Only tolerable?” she asked. “Didn’t you dance with two ladies? A feat, considering your usual aversion to such things.”
Ah, so this was her purpose. “Your eyes and ears never cease to amaze me.”
“Nor should they,” she said simply. “They are quite impressive.”
“So, I danced with two ladies,” he remarked dryly, reaching for the quill to fiddle with. “Hardly something special.”
“That depends,” his mother said. “Who are the two ladies?”
Adam shrugged. “Does it matter?”
“Of course it matters! They are the ladies you chose. And one of them sent a note that she’d like to call on me.”
